BIG INTERVIEW Chebacco
that you don’t see in many businesses.” This year has been difficult for the staff at Parlee. Chapter 11 status naturally left many awaiting answers on their career prospects as the future of the brand remained undecided. Harrison paid tribute to those employees and sees them as one of the company’s biggest assets moving forward. “It’s been a tough haul but the folks that are here have weathered the storm because they really give a damn about what they’re doing.
“They had trust and faith that the brand would continue and it would survive whatever challenges were put in front of it.”
Building blocks
With the business and its staff now looking ahead rather than to the past, Parlee is preparing to ramp up in 2024. “We’re moving fast at the moment.” explained Harrison.
“We have to be careful that we’re not running too fast, but we feel like we’ve got a lot of catching up. “We’ve got a ton of activity here that has been bubbling
away on the surface just waiting to be let go for a while. “I think that energy and excitement about what we’ve got planned for 2024 - and being able to finally realise some of these projects that had been in the wings for a while - is helping buoy everybody.” Part of this will be updating the product lineup, something that has been in the works since before the Chapter 11 filing. “I think that we’ve been in the market with an incomplete product portfolio for a while. There are some things in the portfolio that are also ready for a little breath of fresh air. “Some of our bikes are amazing and have a lot of juice left in them but there are others that I think are ready for some new air.” A key part of this is ensuring that dealers are still looked
after - something that Harrison sees as crucial to maintaining Parlee’s position in the market. “At a high level, you’ll see us really focused on building out
22 | December 2023
a portfolio of bikes that we make available for our dealers to sell, making sure that those are offered at a margin level that they can make a good living. “We think that’s very important. “And that’s a lot of responsibility on us to make sure that we’re driving costs in the right areas to be able to retain quality and performance, what the brand stands for, continue to appeal to the buyer that we always have and also create an opportunity for our dealers to make a living.” One element of Parlee that will always remain is the brand’s focus on producing a premium product. “There’s absolutely no question that we will continue to focus on the high end,” said Harrison. “We’re a high craft product. It is something special and
unique. “We’ll continue to stay focused on that space, but within that market, I think there’s still an opportunity for us to expand the scope of what we’re delivering.”
Dealer relationships As Harrison has already alluded to, IBDs will play a fundamental part in Parlee’s future. “We’ve made it very clear that we’re 100% committed to a dealer channel and IBD distribution. “We’re not online selling, we’re not going direct-to- consumer, we’re 100% dealer focused. “The relationship that we have with our dealers is to ensure that the product on the floor represents the different types of customers that have come into their store.” In the early weeks of his tenure as CEO, Harrison has begun engaging with IBDs and he admits he has been quite surprised at the upbeat attitude from the majority. “We’ve had dealers in our books that have had their best year with us ever in 2023. And these are not new dealers, these are folks that have been working with us for years. “As you sit down and speak with them about their forecast for ‘24, they’re extremely positive.
“That’s not a universal truth, but overall I think that the trend and optimism is definitely noticeable.” Within those discussions, Harrison has also noted the warm and positive response to him becoming CEO. “I think folks are delighted that there’s a future for Parlee and the people that they know here,” he explained. “Like with any change, I think there’s a little bit of cautious optimism. I’m a new guy so I think there’s a fair amount of ‘let’s wait and see what he does’ and I think that’s a totally reasonable and fair position. “Our joint actions over the course of the coming months will speak a lot louder than any words we can use, but I think it’s been very positive.”
Dealer enquiries can be emailed to:
sales@parleecycles.com
www.bikebiz.com
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